Machine for manipulating glass rods and forming spiders therewith.



J. T. FAGAN.

MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING GLASS RODS AND FORMING SPIDERS THEREWITH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12,1908.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l.

\ J.T.FAGAN. MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING GLASS RODS AND FORMING SPIDERS THEREWITH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1908.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

LIQJQH 6 SHEETSSHEET 2.

MneN N .J. T. FAGAN. MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING GLASS RODS AND FORMING SPIDERS THEREWITH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 190?. 1,128,120, Patented F81).9,1915.

6 SHEETS-SH BB1 3 MUM J. T. FAGAN.

MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING GLASS RODS AND FORMING SPIDERS THBREWITH.

APPLICATION TILED JUNE 12. 1908.

1 1 2, 1 Q0. Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

J. T. PAGAN.

MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING GLASS RODS AND FORMING SPIDERS THEREWITH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 1908.

LMJQON Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

6 SHEBTSSHEBT 5.

J. T. FAGAN.

MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING GLASS RODS AND FORMING SPIDERS THEREWITH.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 12, 1908.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

fl igh m.

Fig. 1.

" cairn snares nannn canon JOHN T. FAG-AN, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR MANIIPULATING GLASS RODS AND FORMING SPIDERS THEREWITH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

Application filed June 12, 1908. Serial No. 438,046.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN T. FAGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in-the county of (J uyahoga and State of Ohio, hai'e invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Manipulating Glass Rods and .Forming Spiders Therewith, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine for the manipulation of rods of glass or other similar vitreous substances to the end of producing fused zones thereon, into which zones are inserted anchor wires for the filaments of tantalum lamps.

The finished article may be aptly called a spider, since its character as a skeleton frame upon which the filaments are hung render such a term sufficiently descriptive of the general character of the article. These spiders have heretofore been made by hand, and their production has been subject to those obvious disabilities which attendthe manufacture by hand of articles of this nature.- VVith the individual factor of the operator entering into the equation, the production of fused zones, ordinarily in the form of buttons. has not always been properly done, and it frequently has happened that the anchor wires inserted into the buttons are not properly spaced and touch at their inner ends, so that a shunting of the current results. It will be apparent also that hand production is comparatively slow.

The above and many other advantages are clearly pointed out in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. in which Figure 1 is a side elevation,-certain parts being brokenaway and certain parts being omitted for the sake of clearness. Fig. 2 is a similar view taken at'ninety degrees from the view in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view taken at ninety degrees from the view in Fig. 2 and opposite to the side shown in Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of the reciprocating chuck and the reciprocating thrust rod and mechanism therefor, the wire feeding apparatus and fusing burner being shown in elevation. the section following substantially the line 44 of Fig. 7. Fig. 5 is a plan looking at the top of the machine. Fig. 6 is a plan with the reciprocating chuck and supporting structure removed. Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan showing the wire feedingdevices and their operating mechanism, certain parts being broken away." Fig. 8 is an enlarged longitudinal section of one of the wire feeding chuck bars. Fig. 9 is an engarged cross section of Fig. 8 on the line The machine comprises a supporting frame work of any suitable construction, such as thatshown, in which four standards A both carry and are connected by two supporting cross-heads A, A the upper one A of which carries the reciprocating chuck B which holds the glass rods during the formation of the buttons thereon and the insertion of the anchor wires therein, the lower cross head A supporting the reciprocating thrust rod against which the glass rods are pressed, and also supporting the wire feeding mechanism which will be more fully described below. I

The machine receives its power in the present instance through the medium of a constantly driven pulley C which transmits its motion through the medium of a perpendicular shaft C supported in the frame. Hung below the pulley and slidably mounted upon theshaft is a clutch member 0 by which motion is-transmitted from the pulley to theshaft. A yoke C under spring tension supports the, clutch, the spring tending to lift the yoke so that the clutch will be thrown into engagement with the pulley.

A'worm C on the shaft transmits motion to a horizontal shaft D through the medium of a worm gear D in mesh there with. An arm D fixed to the horizontal shaft, as shown in FigsQl and 6, and having in its outer end a longitudinally reciprocatable in D rotates in such a path that the end of the pin strikes a vertically reciprocatable rod C held in the frame of the machine. The lower end of this rod rests upon the yoke C which holds the clutch member C in engagement with the before mentioned pulley C. Whenever the horizontal shaft I) has completed one revolution, the pin 1) in the end of the projecting arm D will strike the vertical rod C and throw the. clutch member out of engagement with the pulley and the pulley willthereafter rotate idly. At the upper end of the vertical shaft C through which motion is transmitted to the mechanism, is a spur gear B loosely rotatable thereon, above which is a clutch member B slidably fixed to the shaft. This clutch member is lifted out of engagement .with the spur gear by means of a yoke B between the lower end of this vertical rod and the cam which controls its reciprocation,- but this is not an essential construction, since in a machine of different proportions a rod could rest directly upon the cam by which it is reciprocated. When the cam B is in the proper position to permit' the vertical rod to drop to its lowest point and the clutch member B consequently to drop .into engagement with the loosely mounted spur gear B, motion may then be transmitted from this gear through an idler B to a gear- B fixed at the upper end; of the vertically reciprocatable chuck sleeve B in which the glass rods are held I during the formation of the spider. This chuck sleeve being somewhat heavy, a suitr ,with for the purpose of approximately balancing the load,this weight being preferablecounter-weight B is connected thereably located on the outer end ofthe yoke lever Bthrough which the reciprocation of the sleeve is controlled. This yoke lever I receives its motion from a vertical rod B uponwhich it rests, the lower end of the rod ..resting upon a pivoted horizontal arm B,

' which, in turn, rests upon a cam disk B fixedjtothebefore mentioned rotatable horiz'ontal. shaft-D. An anti-friction roller B is preferably secured to'the under side of the '-"horizontally pivoted arm for the purpose of facilitating the operation and to enable the ;eccentricitiesof the cam surface to be more .readily followed. It; is this cam B rotat- Iing-upon the shaft D which controls'the for- 59 preferably held in position.byjbolts.passing mation of buttons uponthe-glassrod when it hasbeen-properly fused,-as will appeal" below. 1 I I 'Inside' of the chuck sleeve B and rotatable "therewithare the chuck members, which, 'as will be'seen'from Fig, 4, areloosely swing- 5"s ing wedge shaped fingers B'hun at the mally heldidown into operativepositio'n-' that is to say, in the position in whichthe lower end of a reciprocatable tube nor-.

chuck fingers are closed, by means of springs B ,at its upper end. These springs are through the head'of' the chuck tube and secured to .the head of the chuck. sleeve-. I also. preferably provide a feeding'tube B". for the glass rods supported in the chuck tube. Reciprocation of the chuck fingers is obviously necessary for feeding in the rods, holding them during the operation, and releasing them after the buttons have been formed and the anchor wires inserted in the buttons. This reciprocation is produced through the medium .of a yoke lever B pivoted to the frame, the end of the lever being operated. through the medium of a pose of forming the buttons when the glass 7 is properly fused. In the upper end of the guiding sleeve is ablock A having an insert E of suitable metal, perforated to allow both the glass rod and the thrust rod to pass therein. Against the under side of said block bears a compression spring E which bears againsta shoulder upon the thrust rod, tending to throw the latter down so that its lower end bears. against the cam E which controls its reciprocation,this cam being suitably shaped to permit the thrust rod to retreat before 'thead-va'ncin glass rod, for the purpose-of forming a utton intermediate its length, and'a dapted to subsequently return the thrust rod to its upper position, at which a button is formed on the glass'rod at its, lower end, 'as will appear more fully below.

, Supported upon the lower cross head, and in the proper horizonta-lplane for the purpose, is the wire feeding mechanism by which the anchor wires F are pushed into the glass buttons while they are in a fused or partially fused condition,suitable heat:

ing means, such as blow pipes being-a rranged to'eifect the fusion or softening in the plane of the wire feeding devices. This portion of themachine comprises a fixed plate F having suitably mounted therein. in radiating channels, fee'ding chucks for the wires. These chucksare' best illustrated in Figs. 4, 7, 8 and 9.. They comprise lon" narrow bars F having 3 suitable channe ways therethrough for receiving the wire.

A dog F pivoted at F" straddles each bar about its middle portion with a loose fit ,such that the dog 'is. permitted to oscillate vertically to grip andrel ease the wire lying in the feed'channeL.

A. disk F ca'pablefof slight oscillatory motion covers thewire chucks, and has therein cam-slots 13 through which pass the heads F of the oscillatable dogs- Obviously, the

turning of this OVGP-lYlIlgdlSk in the proper direction Wlll press the -dogs F forward and not only cause the forward' movement of the bars to which theidogs are pivoted,

maanao but will cause'the latter to grip down upon the wire and advance the same evenly with the chuck bars themselves. 'The movement of the slotted disk in the opposite direction will throw the dogs up from their gripping position, loosening the wire lying in the feed channel, and at the same time moving the chuck bars backward a proper distance for taking a fresh grip upon the wire, this return movement taking place before the wire inserted into the button has been cut oil, as described below.

For the purpose of insuring that the wire shall not be moved back through frictional contact with its channel walls, a spring pressed brake F is located in the slotted end of the chuck bars, and the wire is fed through said brake so that it may be held thereby during the backward movement of the bars. This brake is supported in any suitable manner by the stationary plate on which the chuck bars are mounted.

For the purpose of insuring that the dogs F shall bite down on the wire hard enough to draw it forward when the forward motion is transmitted to the chuck bars through the medium of the dogs, I provide friction shoes F for increasing the resistance of the bars to movement, these shoes lying in a circular channel in the fixed plate F and being pressed against the bars through the medium of coiled springs interposed be tween the same.

The rotationof the operating disk is effected by means of a link F pivotally connected therewith at one end and similarly connected at the other to a rock arm F projecting from the upper portion of a vertical shaft F having at its lower end a cross bar F with adjustable pins F therein at its opposite ends, which lie inthe path of operating arm's F projecting from a secondary horizontal shaft G. This secondary horizontal shaft G receives its motion through the medium of. bevel gears G from the previously mentioned primary horizontal shaft D, and the gears are so proportioned as to give this second shaft tworevolutions to one of the first mentioned shaft. The reason for giving this second shaft an increased number of revolutions is that it controls the operation of the wire feeding and cutting mechanism, the operation of which is duplicated upon the two buttons of a single spider. The projecting arms F just mentioned, which oscillate the cross bar F and the vertical shaft F,-which controls the wire feeding mechanism, are located at V diametrically opposite points upon their shaft. so that while one tends to turn the cross bar in one direction, the other will reverse the direction of oscillation after a movement of 180 degrees on the part of the secondary horizontal shaft G. This movement will be again referred to in the genlat eral description of the operation of the machine.

Below the wire feeding mechanism and guided upon the upper end of the previously mentioned guide sleeve A are the wire cutters H, H. After the wire has been pressed into the fused buttons, these cutters move up in proper position to cut off the desired length of it. During this cutting operation, the gas flame is cut off, so as not to injure the cutter. After the cutting operation, the cutters are lowered out of the heat zone so as to be preserved from injury. This reciprocation occurs twice during the formation of each spider, since there are two buttons and two sets of anchor wires formed.

The lower-or inside cutting member H is provided with a series of removable knives K. This member fits the guiding sleeve closely and is supported by means of a vertical rod H connected in the present construction to a pivoted arm H resting upon a double cam H on the main horizontal shaft D,this cam being shaped to give the double reciprocation referred to. The up per end of the supporting rod is shouldered and receives the load from a horizontal projecting plate H secured to the lower end of the interior cutter. This plate is slotted, and the reduced end of the supporting rod projects through the slot, the slot being provided for the purpose of permitting the slight rotation of the cutter sufficient to perform the cutting operation.

The upper and outer cutting member H is provided with a series of spaced cutting members K, the edges of which co-act with the knives K of member H. The member H is supported by the lower and inner member, but is held against rotation by means of a pin H projecting therefrom into a vertical slot in a fixed member H of the frame,

as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. Rotation of the inne'r cutter member is secured at the proper time through the medium of a rigid arm H secured thereto and straddled at its outer end by depending legs from a link H pivotally secured to a'rock arm projecting from an oscillatable sleeve H having fixed to its lower end an oscillatable cross bar H 1.

. gles on the secondary shaft so as to throw the inner cutter member around to cut the wires at the proper time, and to then immediately afterward throw the cutter member back so as to leave an open space to receive the wire for its next operation. Obviously the operating arms on this secondary shaft may be adjusted for the proper timing of these movements or changing the time, should any changes bedesired.

At the outer end of the secondary horizontal shaft G I have provided a suitably timed cam I for operating an economizing valve 1 for controlling the heating medium, which shall not only economize in the matter of heat but shall shut the same off with a view to saving the cutting members when they are elevated to operating position with in the best zone.

In operation the short lengths of glass rods necessary for the formation of the spiders are dropped into the feeding tube, either by hand or from a hopper, as desired, the chuck beiiig held up at this time to per- .mit the lower rod to fall therethrough upon the thrust rod E, the cam' E holding the latter at a properly spaced distance. Upon the release of the chuck tube, the springs controlling the same thrust it downward so that the Wedge fingers hanging at the lower end thereof grasp theglassrod and'hold it firmly. At this point the stop pin D which has heretofore held the clutch member C down away from the driving pulley C, as

shown in Fig. 1, is slipped out of engagement with the vertical rod, which has held the yoke lever downward against the tension of its spring, thus permitting the spring to draw the yoke and the clutch member up into engagement with the driving pulley. Motion is thus transmitted. to the vertical shaft C and through the worm thereon to the main'horizontal shaft, on whichis fixed the cam B that controls the clutch B at the top of the shaft. This cam is properly timed to 'nowpermit the upper clutch to drop into engagement with the spur gear at the end of the shaft and transmit rotary movement to the chuck sleeve. At this point the vertical rod B controlling the reciprocation of the chuck sleeve is lifted by its cam-B which, as before described, is also fixed to the main horizontal shaft, so that the glass rod held by the chuck is lowered with a' rapid rotation into the heating zone,-+the heat being at this point turned on I by the controlling cam I on the secondary horizontal shaft. As the'glass rod is thus lowered'by its chuck the cam E on the main horizontal shaft controlling the-thrust rod permits thelatter to drop to a certain distancciand there holds it to receive the further downward pressure of the chuck, the

- heat at this time being sutlicient to fuse the rod in the plane of the heat zone. Atthis point the cam B controlling the clutch B at the upper end of the vertical operating shaft throws the clutch out of engagement with the spur gear and stopping the rotation of the chuck which holds the glass rod. Ob-

viously, the downward thrust of the chuck against the thrust rod will cause the glass rod to bulge outward and form a button at the fused portion, the button resting upon the insert in the head of the guiding sleeve. The slotted disk F lying above the wire chuck bars now receives a rotation by reason of one ofthe projecting arms on the secondary horizontal shaft oscillating the cross bar at the lower end of the vertical rod, which is connected through a rock arm and a link with said slotted disk. The turning of this disk throws the wire chuck bars forward and thrusts. the ends of the wire carried thereby into the fused glass button to a predetermined distance, this movement being a quick one, necessarily. The adjustments are, of course, so made that the wire ends do not enter the button to such a distance as to contact with each other, it being essential that there be no contact whatever between them. The economizing cam now shuts off the heat, and the slotted disk is given a reverse turn by the second operating arm on the secondary shaft, which pushes the cross bar in the opposite direction to the turning movement first given it. This will throw a backward pressure against the heads F of the oscillatingdogs F on the wire chucks, releasing the wire lying "in the channels of the bar and moving the bars backward, the wire being held meanwhile against backward movement by the the wire cutters now elevates the liftin rod, v

and the open cutters pass up into suc position that the wires projecting from the wire chucks into the glass button lie between the cutting knives. The lower and inner rotatable cutter is then given a short turning movement, through the connections previously described, from a projecting arm on the secondary horizontal shaft, and the wires are cut at their proper length. The double cam referred to then immediately permits the drop of. the cutting members, and the rotatable member is moved back to its open position by a second projecting arm on the secondary horizontal shaft, as previously described. .The cam B .on the main horizontal shaft, which controls the vertical clutch B on the vertical operating shaft C having been dropped into engagement with the spur gear. Simultaneously with this upward movement of the rotatable chuck B, the thrust rod is lifted to the proper point 'to receive the end of the glass rod when the downward thrust of the chuck B shall again inaaiao take place. It will be remembered that the thrust rod was previously lowered prior to the formation of the intermediate button, and it will-be apparent that its elevation is necessary on account of the fact that the new button is formed at the end of the glass rod. llhe glass rod being now rotated in the heating zone and fused at a second point, the rotation of the chuck is again stopped and it is thrust downward slightly to press the glass rod against the thrust rod and produce a second button. A projecting arm on the secondary horizontal shaft G again transmits motion to the slotted disk controlling the wire chucks. causing them to move inward, thrust wires into the fused button, release the wires, and withdraw to their outward position. The wire cutting operation previously described is then re peated in precisely the same manner, the only difference being that the second member of the'double cam H on the main operating shaft is utilized to elevate the cutters during thesecond cutting action,the heat being meanwhile cut off from the heating zone. The spider is now completed and ready for removal from the machine, and at this point the stop pin D previously de scribed as being located upon the outer end of the main horizontal shafts strikes against the short vertical rod lying in its path and throws the clutch on the vertical operating shaft out of engagement with the driving pulley, leaving the parts at rest while thecompleted spider is removed and'the chuck fingers are opened for the reception of the next glass rod.

By the expression rod used in this specification, I refer not simply to solid rods, but include, of course, hollow rods,

commonly called tubes.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A machine of the class described comprising means for forming a fused zone upon a rod'. and means for pushing wires endwise and transversely iof said rod into the softened material of'said zone.

2. A machine of the class described comprisingmeans for sustaining a rod and for forming a button thereon, means for insert ing wire endwise into said button transversely of the said rod and means for cutting the wire. v

3. A machinecomprising means for sustaining a'rod, means for heating a portion thereof to soften it and means for inserting a plurality of wires radially into said softened portion at predetermined angular distances around the said rod.

4. The combination. with means for sustaining a rod having a fused zone of means for inserting Wire endwise into said zone and transversely thereof, and means for cutting prising means for thrustin tltt buttons permanently upon a rod, means for,

inserting wire in said buttons, and means for obtaining relative longitudinal movement between the rod and the wire inserting means.

7. A machine of the class described comprising means for forming a permanent button upon a rod and means for inserting a plurality of wires into said button with predetermined spacing.

8. A machine of the class described comprising means forsustaining a rod with a button thereon, means for inserting wire endwise into said button and transversely thereof, means for cutting said wire, said cutting means and the means for sustaining the rod being relatively reciprocable.

9. A machine of the class described comprising means for sustaining a rod, means for locally fusing the same andmeans for inserting wire endwise into the fused portion and transversely thereof,

10. A machine of the class described comprising means for fusing a portion of a glass rod, means for sustainin the rod in position such that the fused portlon will not become detached therefrom, and means for inserting wire endwise and transversely of said rod into the fused portion.

11. A machine of the class described comprising means for locally fusing a body, means for inserting wire endwise into the fused portion, and means for releasing the wire after such insertion and withdrawing said inserting means without withdrawal of the wire from the body.

12. A machine of the class described cominto a fused portion of a ro and means for releasing the wlre after such lnsertion and withdrawing said thrusting means without withdrawing the said wire from the rod.

13. A machine of the class described comprising means for locally heating and softening a rod, means for thrusting a plurality of wires radially into the fused portion of the rod so that the ends of said wires will be embedded in said rod and firmly held thereby upon the hardening of said fused portion.

14. A machine of the class described comwire endwise prising means for supporting a glass rod, 1

means for fusing a portion of said rod, means for applying pressure to said rod to form a button from said fused portion and means coasting With the aforesaid parts for feeding a plurality of Wires radially into position so that their ends will be embedded in the said button.

15, A machine of the class described com prising means for supporting a glass rod, means for fusing portion of said rod, means for applying pressure to said rod to form button from said fused portion, means coasting with the aforesaid parts for feeding a plurality of Wires radially into position so that their ends will be embedded in the said button, and means for cutting ed a portion of each. of said wires.

16. A. machine of the class described comprising means for supporting a glass rod, means for fusing a portion of said rod, means for applying pressure to said rod to form a button from said fused portion, and means coacting with the aforesaid parts for simultaneously feeding a plurality of Wires radially into position so that their ends will be embedded in the said button,

17. A machine of the class described cornprising means for supporting a glass rod, means for fusing a portion of said rod, means for applying pressure to said rod to form a button from said fused portion, means coasting with the aforesaid parts for simultaneously feeding a plurality of wires radially into position so that their ends will be embedded in the said button, and means for simultaneously cutting off a portion of each of said Wires.

18. A machine of the class described comprising means for holding a glass rod, means for directing a fusing flame against a portion of said rod, means for subse quently forming a button from said fused portion and for inserting wires into the same, means for repeating the aforestated operations upon another portion of said rod, and connections whereby all of the aforesaid means are brought into and out of operation in a predetermined order.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature in the presnce of two Witnesses.

JOHN T. FAGAN.

Witnesses H. R. SULLIVAN, E. B. GILOHRIST. 

